Here Comes the Boom Niko real name

Here Comes the Boom stars Kevin James, fitter but no funnier, as a biology teacher moonlighting as a mixed martial arts fighter to save his school's music program. It's the combination of Warrior and Mr. Holland's Opus nobody asked for, but here it comes anyway, landing with a thump.

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Is Niko From Here Comes the Boom a real MMA fighter?
Who are the real fighters in Here Comes the Boom?
What fighter is Here Comes the Boom based on?
Is Here Comes the Boom a real story?

James plays nice guy Scott Voss, who used to be a good teacher but nowadays wastes class time reading the sports pages. The only motivation Scott displays at work is bugging school nurse Bella Flores (Salma Hayek) to go out on a date. One day he's inspired by hearing the school band performing, led by kindly old Marty Streb (Henry Winkler), and a connect-the-dots crusade is born.

Financially strapped, the principal (Greg Germann, boo, hiss) announces the end of Marty's music program and its $46,000 budget. This can't happen, Scott declares. Since there is apparently no other way to raise $46,000, he'll learn to be an MMA fighter, just to collect enough loser purses and save the band. I'm certain there are people who can't imagine how this movie will end, and that's depressing.

Director Frank Coraci, along with James a profiting disciple of Adam Sandler, again shows a nice touch with underwhelming material. Here Comes the Boom is never annoyingly bad, just sporadically entertaining. There are some fine wacky moments provided by MMA star Bas Rutten as Scott's trainer and night school student, and while Winkler's eager sweetness is initially off-putting, it grows on you.

Playing a professional athlete takes away much of James' comedy shtick. Since he's asked to be in better shape and coordinated, fat-guy pratfalls are limited to a failed basketball dunk and assorted, unfunny takedowns in the ring. MMA rules prohibit blows to the groin, so that sure-fire gag is out the window. Affable blandness can take this performance only so far.

Getting his brain rattled pushes Scott into a Dead Poets Society-style epiphany, inspires a gifted student (Glee songbird Charice) and turns an unlikely Neil Diamond ditty into a battle anthem. It's all harmless, if not entirely fun.

The way Kevin James gets pummeled for most of an hour and a half is the core of "Here Comes the Boom." Nice guy does his best, gets smashed, gets up again.

Though he hit sitcom gold with "The King of Queens," the Long Island-born James hasn't really been able to parlay his Gleason-like appeal — the elegance of the nimble fat guy — into a movie hit. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" gave him box office coin, but his finest hour remains his co-star work in 2005's "Hitch." There, you couldn't wait for him to show up and end the movie's banality.

"Here Comes the Boom" is all banality, though it delivers some goodwill even as it pulls a muscle trying to get its premise going.

Scott Voss (James) is a bored high school biology teacher in Boston. He flirts with the sexy school nurse (Salma Hayek) and makes friends with Marty, the music teacher (Henry Winkler, showing he's still got it).

When budget cuts threaten the school's music class and Marty's job, Scott resolves to find a solution.

To raise the $48,000 needed, Scott first takes a night job prepping immigrants for citizenship. There he meets Niko (Bas Rutten), a former mixed martial arts fighter from Holland. Steve agrees to give Niko extra time prepping for a citizenship test if he coaches Scott in MMA. That, the portly biology teacher believes, is the fastest way to the cash.

The remainder of "Boom" is a predictable blend of Adam Sandler-style gross-out moments and underdog-boosting set to oldies rock. Sandler co-produced here, and his frequent collaborator Frank Coraci directed.

Among all the face punches and gut kicks is a fairly honest heart. But that heart, like the script, is weak.

What shouldn't be counted out is James' willingness to go all-out for his audience. His buddies Sandler and Chris Rock wouldn't strip to the waist and play at being a burlyman, or throw themselves so energetically into something so free of irony. Or allow Winkler to steal scenes.

It’s not easy to out-charisma Kevin James, who has made a career of playing nice, non-threatening guys who manage to get the girl and save the day. But in “Here Comes the Boom,” Bas Rutten steals the show.

Rutten plays Niko, a former MMA fighter who trains James’ character, biology teacher Scott Voss, as an MMA fighter so Voss can raise money to save the music program at his school. Rutten has several funny scenes in the movie, as he also teaches yoga and several other classes at the local gym.

Oh, and Rutten sings during the movie, and his voice gives you a glimpse of why he went into MMA and not singing.

Rutten is a former UFC champion, an ex-Pancrase champion and finished his MMA career with a record of 28-4-1. He was forced to retire in 1999 after injuring his neck in training. His character in the film also had to retire because of a neck injury.

But how did he turn an MMA career into a role in a major motion picture?

“Joe Rogan and I were doing standup comedy together and we started watching Pancrase and we saw Bas Rutten in Japan with all his fights,” James said. Rogan is a UFC commentator and a fellow comedian. “We were watching this crazy dude with the knee-high boots and the bald head doing all these flips in the ring and knocking people out. We were laughing at this guy, like this guy was insane. We would watch him as much as we could.”

That led to a meeting between James and Rutten.

“He’s just a great guy, a great friend, and that was kind of what inspired me all along to start making a movie to incorporate that,” James said, “showing the human side of this sport that I just respect, that I wouldn’t do necessarily, but I respect so much.”

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Houston Mitchell is an assistant sports editor, writer of the Dodgers Dugout newsletter and editor of all of the sports newsletters for the Los Angeles Times.

Is Niko From Here Comes the Boom a real MMA fighter?

Bas Rutten retired from the UFC in 1999 with a 28-4 professional record. The Dutch kickboxer/grappler was knocking out UFC Heavyweight champs in sparring, and ultimately retired due to injuries: chief among them was a neck injury that he still deals with today, a wrecked knee, and a torn bicep.

Who are the real fighters in Here Comes the Boom?

Many well-known fighters and MMA personalities also make cameos in the film, such as Krzysztof Soszynski, Bas Rutten, Joe Rogan and a green-haired Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Even the UFC's trademarked gloves make an appearance.

What fighter is Here Comes the Boom based on?

The story Niko (Bas Rutten) tells Scott (Kevin James) about why he was unable to fight in the UFC is based on Bas Rutten's own experiences. Shortly after beginning his career with UFC, while training for his third fight, he blew out his knee, as well as sustained other injuries, forcing him to retire.

Is Here Comes the Boom a real story?

Even if you thought so, the story of Here Comes the Boom isn't inspired by true events. The story is a work of fiction by the writer duo Kevin James and Allan Loebbut. The presence of famous MMA individuals like Mark DellaGrotte, Joe Rogen, Herb Dean, Bruce Buffer, and Wanderlei Silva has given it an authentic touch.

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